Touching the Sky
by InPurpleInk
Summary: Slytherins do as their told. Its a simple and traditional fact. But how can one keep doing as their father says when their heart is telling them something completely different?
1. Slytherins and Their Pride

Every one of us already had our fate laid out before us. Our ancestors had placed it long ago, when they decided to follow an evil man and train our parents to do the same. Our thoughts belonged to them and our actions are simply their wills lingering inside us. What was to happen to us had already happened to them and their hold on us was too strong to break free from. How does one run from their destiny when it means that everything they lived for would be left behind?

You don't.

It was the simple truth that any Slytherin could tell you. We believed in our hearts, black and twisted as they were, that we were intended to follow in our parents footsteps, to become monsters in the name of fear. There was no changing the road, no cutting off on exits or shifting the directions. It was do as your told or die for a side that has never seen you as good, never seen that Slytherins could join them. Without realizing it, the people who call themselves good accidentally make people worse and the children born into bad families feel they have no choice, growing up to be the enemy.

That was what we were. Slytherin's bad reputation cut our ties with the other houses and just like that, our fates were set. I watched others play and have fun while I sat aside, being drilled with what was expected of me. My hatred of Gryffindors and Muggle-borns sprouted from no more than envy and the constant voice of my father telling me to hate them. They had so much more freedom and knew they had people they could trust, friends. Something that was considered weak to have in my world.

The people around me were the closest I had to friends. The six of us had always stuck together, never fully trusting one another but understanding each other in a way that no one else could. We would claim to be friends, to anyone who asked and to each other, but to our parents we were simply making connections with proper wizarding families to ensure our future. The only thing our parents wanted was for us to stay pure as we grew up, as well as to uphold their beliefs, of course.

"I heard that Harry Potter was on the train." Adelaide Murton said to the other five of us as we rode quietly on one of the carriages up to the Hogwarts Castle. She was a short, pretty girl with black, curly hair that fell just past her shoulders and dark brown eyes. She was an extreme gossip, which was good for the rest of us because any news that had entered the castle would be first known by her and she was always willing to share everything we needed to know with us. It was a simple way to watch what was being said about us and to know how to keep our reputation up.

"Well, that's no surprise." A large boy from our grade said, rolling his eyes at her. Peter Blishwick, the boy who had spoken, and his twin brother, Roy, were the Slytherin heartthrobs of our year. Tall, muscular, and members of the Quidditch team, they both attracted girls from every house, except maybe Gryffindor for obvious reasons. Their golden blonde hair and honey eyes could make any girl melt, though if you looked past their obvious attractiveness, you'll find that Roy is too shy to talk to girls outside our group and Peter is an egotistical hot-head that doesn't know when to shut up. "Sorry to point out but we have been expecting the little brat for the past five years."

"So, the whole time we have gone here?" I asked, ignoring him as he scowled at me. None of us were very fond of Harry Potter, our parents all being supporters of the Dark Lord, and we had all been tracking the time until he would resurface from wherever he had hidden in the muggle world. I had just been teasing him, for Harry Potter coming had been a surprise to none of us, and I flashed him a quick smile to show that no insult was meant.

The rest of the short ride up to the school was quiet, each of us probably thinking of our farewell speeches from our family. The usual stotic farewell, take care speeches were starting to take dark paths as our years here accumulated and we got closer to graduation. We were only fifth years but we were starting to be reprimanded for any positive interaction caught between us and a muggle-born. School was no sanctuary for us, somehow our parents had eyes within and were already expecting us to treat those lesser than us with the expected actions of someone superior.

We joined the crowd of laughing students walking into the large doors. Slytherins were easy to spot, walking blank-faced into the school and pretending, or actually thinking, that the whole business of school was beneath them. We tried quickly to get through the entrance hall without predicament but as it had happened every year, we were not surprised as we were suddenly showered with water followed by a ghostly laugh.

"I have found you my unpleasant group of Slytherins!" Peeves yelled, floating just above our heads with several, now empty, buckets of water. Several of the students from other houses tried to stifle their laughs and others openly cackled with the bothersome poltergeist, causing my face to flush red with anger. My other companions were having similar reactions but as quickly as the anger had come, we all allowed the calm to flicker back into our eyes. "You six are no fun. Learn to take pranks like you should, get angry and try to get back."

"That wouldn't do anything but lower us down to your level, Peeves." I said, walking away from the ghost and hoard of students who had quieted to hear what I had to say. My companions continued to walk, Roy drying us with a quick spell, as I looked over my shoulder, flicking my light brown hair out of my eyes, and gave Peeves as well as the crowd a glare that made a few cower. "And I don't want to be anywhere near the level of a poltergeist who must always bother students, staff, and ghost in order to feel better about himself."

I felt the sudden shift in the students behind me as I turned my back to rejoin my company. No one particularly liked Peeves but the hatred for Slytherins, especially amongst the Gryffindors, was far stronger. I smirked as a sudden commotion of rage exploded behind me and many insults were thrown at my retreating figure. There is no better way to start the year than by angering a majority of the school by saying a couple of sentences.

"One day one of the students are going to curse you." Terrence Higgs said, giving me a smile. He had always been my favorite of the other five and vise versa. We both had very similar personalities, a sarcastic wit that always tended to get us into trouble and the two of us understood each other on a deeper level than the others. Our moms had both been killed at a very young age and that left us with fathers of an even stricter nature. I looked to him as a brother and found that if I had to trust anyone then I would trust him.

"Then I'll just smile and watch as they are given a month of detention with Snape." I replied, shrugging while taking a spot across from him. His girlfriend, Zoe Accrington, gave a light laugh at my response and smiled at me with her perfect white teeth. The two of them had been promised to each other as children and had grown to actually like each other. They were good together too, his blonde hair and perfectly paled skin matched with her dark complexion and slim build. I liked her even more because she understood Terrence's relationship with me and never once acted jealous.

Everyone then managed to file into the hall, taking seats at their respective tables. Light chatter took our group waiting for the new first years, including Harry Potter, and his name could be heard floating around the hall, everyone excited that their savior was back. We all ignored it and spoke of how our summers had been, keep away from family and any other potentially dangerous topics. Within minutes though, the grand doors opened and Mrs. McGonagall made her way in with a hoard of houseless students.

"Well, this will probably be fairly interesting." Peter said on my right, his voice a near whisper as all the students had quieted down to get an assessment of the first years. I nudged him and held a finger to my lips as the Sorting Hat was set up in front of us, starting to sing as soon as McGonagall released it. I clapped along as it finished and the sorting started soon after.

It was as uninteresting as ever until they got to the Ps. Harry Potter was called up and every single student in the hall craned to see him, even the Slytherins wondered what the kid would look like. I was rather unimpressed by my first glance at him, a lanky boy with disheveled hair and black glasses. He looked right nervous as he sat down and I saw his eyes drift anxiously over everyone before the hat blocked them out.

"Ten Galleons he is going to be a Gryffindor." I said, turning around to look at Peter. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ten golden coins to prove that I could pay up front. He nodded and pulled out his ten coins, shaking my hand to make it official. The two of us watched closely as the Sorting Hat took its time, carefully taking in the golden boy's characters and finally reached a decision after about thirty seconds.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled and the table burst into the loudest applause anyone had gotten in all my years here. The Weasleys were being as insufferable as usual but I still smiled anyway, swiping the golden coins from Peter's hand before he could pull them away. Pocketing my money and smirking a Peter, who frowned, I half listened to the rest of the names being sorted, clapping whenever the hat shouted Slytherin. Dumbledore gave a short welcome back speech before the food arrived and everyone began to dig in.

"He is beyond mad, that man." Adelaide said, nodding her head while adding some mashed potatoes to her plate. Her black curls bounced on her shoulders and Peter reached over to pull on one, making it pop back into place. She scowled at him before continuing. "I mean, he said four random words instead of warning the first years about the Black Lake or the Dark Forest. I mean seriously."

"I think their names should be enough to warn them away." I said, taking small portions of everything within my reach. If I had to give credit to Hogwarts for anything, it would be the food. "Of course, they would only know that after someone told them about it. Roy, what are the chances of talking some new Gryffindorks into taking a swim in the Happy-Sunshine Lake before the prefects warn them about it?" Roy looked over at me with an eyebrow raised while everyone chuckled slightly and rolled his eyes.

"Slim to none." Roy said, eyeing the Gryffindor table on the other side of the Ravenclaws. I stood a little and looked too, seeing that Percy Weasley was already talking with some of the first years, including Potter. "I'm sure the little weasel is already warning them about everything and everyone in the school. I'm sure he will mention us, being the Slytherins in his year and all. We have no chance at getting them to believe us at all if he does."

We let the conversation drop after that, eating our meal in silence. Soon all the food disappeared and Dumbledore stood again to finish his speech, warning us away from the third floor corridor. Then everyone stood to sing the school song, my company singing unenthusiastically and hurriedly together, like many of the Slytherins did. When we were finally excused, we all exited the hall and made our way down to the dungeons.

Everyone went straight off to their rooms without muttering much more than a goodnight. The other two girls and I made our way into the fifth year dorm, finding all of our stuff already set up. Ignoring Viola and Gemma, our other two dormmates, I flopped onto my bed, tired from the days events and flicked of my light. Tomorrow, school would start and the last thing I needed was another tardy on the first day.


	2. Mondays and Potions Dont Mix

The next morning I was woken up to someone shaking me. The room was still dark, considering all the windows faced out into the lake, and only one of the lanterns were on. I whipped some of the drowsiness from my eyes and sat up, looking to the person at the side of my bed.

Viola Richmond.

The thing about Viola Richmond was her personality. She was a pretty girl with clear skin, crystal blue eyes, and light blonde hair that looked flawless all the time. She just needed to pull the stick out of her arse and stop being such a bloody uptight bitch all the time. The only good thing about her was that she had excellent time management, providing us with an alarm clock and permitting us from saying anything rude to her face. It was pretty win-win if you ask me.

She gave me a thin-lipped smile good morning before leaving my bedside. She was already ready to go and she went to go wake the others in the room, starting with Adelaide. She stood above her with her hand outstretched but turned back to me before shaking her, gesturing for me to hurry up and claim the shower before she woke her.

I guess that makes two rewarding qualities.

I grabbed my stuff quickly, running as lightly as I could. Once in the bathroom, I locked the door with a spell and proceeded to strip, going on with my morning routine with little bother. Halfway through my shower I heard Adelaide screaming at me while pounding on the door and I laughed lightly in triumph. Quickly getting out so as not to anger her too bad, I did a quick drying spell and applied a light layer of mascara before vacating the bathroom for her.

"There you go, you blubbering idiot." I scolded, chuckling slightly as she brushed past me into the bathroom. She scowled at me as she slammed the door in my face and I heard her murmuring behind the door. I turned away from the door and dug through my chest, pulling out my school robes embroidered with silver and green. I quickly pulled them on and turned to find Zoe watching me with a certain glint in her eyes. "What?"

"I've always been jealous of the way you look in the robes, Bree." She said, smiling at me in a friendly way, the envy still shining in her eyes. "The silver makes you look very exotic, bringing out the olive tones, and the green makes your eyes stand out. Your eyes are very pretty, you know, a really bright green." She assessed me, looking over me one last time before pulling all her stuff out to prepare for her shower and running a fine comb through her wavy black hair.

"Thanks Zoe." I said, pulling on my black flats, unwilling to wear heels on the first day. I was already fairly tall, coming to stand at about 5'8" and I rarely wore heels to keep from looking taller than most of the guys, especially those below our year who hadn't quite hit their growth spurts. "I have told you plenty of times how beautiful you are. There is no need for you to envy me either, having already plucked up one of the better guys in our grade. I still have no one."

"You should be happy that your father hasn't forced you with anyone." She said, sitting on her trunk and waiting for Adelaide to finish. Gemma, our year's female prefect, must have finished before me too because she was absent from the room and Viola must have just left as well. "As much as I have come to like Terence, I would have also liked to have the freedom to choose who I would be with. You are lucky, 'He must be a pureblood' is way broader that 'He must be Terence Higgs.'"

I nodded as Adelaide came out, quickly being replaced by Zoe. I grabbed my books and told her that I would meet her and Zoe in the Great Hall before leaving for breakfast. A few people were in the common room when I came down but no one I knew so I quickly exited and made my way up the few flights of stairs to meet everyone. On the way though, I bumped into a girl my age and spilled both her books and my books all over the floor.

"I'm so sorry." She said, reaching down to collect her books. I studied her for a second, taking in her Gryffindor robes and curly blonde hair, vaguely recognizing her as being in my year. I quickly leaned down and picked up my books, grabbing her potions book instead of mine. She stood back up and frowned when she saw that my robes were Slytherin. I stood again with my books, and her potions book, and smiled kindly at her.

"The fault is mine." I said, adjusting my books on my arm and fixing my bags strap on my shoulder. "I should be watching were I am walking more carefully. I'm just a bit tired, I got a nice welcome back to school from one of the boys in our class." I let my smile change into a smirk, winking at her as she paled slightly. I pushed past her, rounding a corner and laughing lightly at how easy it was to mess with the Gryffindors.

...

"Here are your timetables." I looked up at the nasally voice of Professor Snape. He handed a timetable to each of the six of us as we finished up our breakfast and gave me a hard look. "I expect to see you on time to my class despite it being first thing Monday morning. Can you try to do that this year, Ms. Travers?" I nodded, giving a little salute to the potions professor before he carried on down the table.

"Oh, blimey, I was hoping he was joking." I said, frowning when I saw that I did indeed have potions first thing every Monday. "Well, at least it is at the end of the day on Thursday. Does anyone else have any of the same classes as me?" I placed my timetable in the middle of the table and the six of them all scanned over it, comparing it to their own.

"I have Transfiguration, Charms, DADA, and Care For Magical Creatures with you." Roy said, smiling at me.

"Same. Roy and I have all the same classes." Peter said, giving his brother a side hug and laughing merrily when Roy scowled at him.

"Well that's just bloody great." I said, snatching my timetable back and throwing my bag over my shoulder. "I'll see the rest of you if I have classes with you, yeah? Does anyone else have potions first thing today though?" I frowned when everyone stayed quiet and groaned, thinking of having to be in potions alone. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see two other fifth year Slytherin boys, Jonathon Nott and Colin Gamp.

"The two of us have Potions first, Bree." Colin said, gesturing between the two of them. I faked a polite smile at him for the sake of my father but really they didn't help in the long run. As soon as we were going to be told to partner up, both boys would chose each other and I would still be left alone to be with someone from another house. "You can walk with us down to the dungeon."

I nodded, turning to walk next to Jonathon. I looked back sadly at the rest of the group but they all shrugged, waving at me. Damn Slytherins and their lack of caring for other peoples problems. I sucked it up though and walked beside the two boys in silence as they talked about their summers. They occasionally tried to get me to join in on their conversation but I my answers were short and I made the excuse that I was just tired for the second time that day.

Potions was still being held in the same classroom, by the same teacher. Snape, favoring Slytherin, frowned deeply when he saw that this class was mostly Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. My reaction was the same and there was no other person in the room that I had even cared to know past Quidditch or simple house rivalry. I cursed my luck as Snape called for us to get a partner and the two boys did exactly what I had predicted.

"Professor, can I team up with Nott and Gamp?" I asked, walking to the front of the classroom to Snape's desk. I hadn't even considered the possibility of teaming up with any of the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws had sorted themselves before I could get to any of them. There had been a couple Hufflepuffs but they too had paired with each other having known one another. "There is no one else."

"I find that highly unlikely as this class has an even number of students." Snape said, standing to look over everyone's head to find another odd one without a partner. "And even if there weren't you would not be allowed to have two partners. This is an advanced potions class so I expect you to be able to brew these potions with just one other member in your team." His eyes landed on somebody behind him and he gave me a slight smirk. "Wood! I understand that you are quite a catch but you are only allowed one partner in this class. The two ladies can work together and I want you to work with Ms. Travers." I groaned, looking up at the potions teacher with pleading in my eyes and he leaned down to whisper lowly. "Consider this punishment for all your tardies."

I groaned again as I turned around to face Wood. He hadn't even bothered to look at me and had walked straight to the empty potions table, looking as miserable as I felt. I sat next to him, glaring up at Snape while he began his lecture for the beginning of the year and made several points though out the lecture to smirk in my direction. Potions was going to be considerably horrible this year.


	3. Set and Match

Luckily, the rest of the week went by without much trouble. Slytherins had almost no classes with Gryffindors, the only exceptions being Potions, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Wood had said nothing to me during potions, which I was very grateful for, and in every other class I had at least one pleasant person to talk to, mostly Slytherins but occasionally a Ravenclaw of pure blood. The school had settled into its normal routine and nothing really interesting happened until Sunday afternoon.

"I cant believe you have decided to wait until the last minute to get your Potions essay done." Roy said, plopping down next to me on the couch. He took my notes from class out of my hand, reading over what I had written and his eyes bugged at where I had written the assignment near the bottom. "An eleven inch essay on Moonstone due Monday morning? He really felt like starting the year with some fun, eh? I am glad that I am not taking the advanced course."

"Its not a problem." I said, measuring off the length on my piece of parchment. I dug into my bag for a quill, ink jar, and my potions book, setting them all on the table in the common room. "I don't find potions to be that hard, though I am regretting taking a higher level than the rest of you. Snape paired me with Wood and claims it was from all the tardies I had gotten last year that he didn't punish because he was favoring Slytherins. I would actually prefer the detentions, I think."

"That's too bad, Bree." Roy said, handing me my notes before reaching for my potions book. "I didn't even think that Wood was capable of getting into that class. He doesn't seem like the Potions type, or really the school type considering his obsession with Quidditch. What page is the section on Moonstone?"

"Page 39, sections 4." I said, titling my essay while hearing him shuffle through the pages behind me. I heard a noise of disgust and turned around to find Roy looking at me strangely. "What?"

"Doesn't look like you a hate being with Wood as much as you claim to, Travers." He said, looking back at the page frowning. I reached forward and took the book from him, my confusion lifting as I looked at the parchment stuck in the page. Hearts had been drawn everywhere with Oliver Wood written in sloppy writing between them and I laughed, remembering my little incident with the Gryffindor girl on the first day of school. I flipped to the front and looked at the name written just inside the cover: Anna Mirfield.

"It's not my potions book, Roy." I said, still chuckling at this new bit of information I had happened upon. "I had bumped into a Gryffindor girl on the first day of school, apparently Anna Mirfield, and I thought I might get something by swapping one of our books. I had completely forgotten about it but look at this; a nice new topic of gossip." I flipped back to the parchment and smirked at all the little drawings.

"Anna Mirfield?" He asked and I nodded. "She is in my Potions class. Now that you have the information, do you want me to return it to her and get your book back?"

"No, thank you." I said, shaking my head before looking at him with a smirk. "I have a much better idea on how to get it back to it's owner."

...

The next morning was warm, the summer weather still lingering into autumn. The sun shone brightly across the black lake and small gust of cool wind blew out of the forest. I shivered as the breeze wrapped around me and blew my hair around my head, probably tangling it into large knots. I looked out over the lake, feeling tired before the week had even started and sighing at the thought of dealing with my classes.

I had woken up early today. My mind had been on many things the night before and my sleep had been less than peaceful. I always came to the lake whenever I needed something to remind me of the beauty in the world and todays sunrise had been quite magnificent over the dark trees. It almost looked like the sun had come right out of the trees and into the sky to light up the world, something good coming from the darkness.

I hiked quietly back up to the castle after a few moments of watching the suns reflection on the surface of the water. My nerves had been calmed and my dreams slowly sank into the back of my brain so that I could think of them later. I stopped by the Great Hall as everyone was finishing up and grabbed a piece of toast, ignoring my group as they called out to me. I just wanted to get though today without an problems and as much as I appreciated their company, together we had a knack for trouble.

"Travers." I heard a deep voice behind me as I walked out of the hall and turned to face the owner. I was surprised to find Oliver Wood walking a couple of paces behind me and raised my eyebrow at him in question. Wood and I had only spoken to each other on the pitch during a game and you could hardly call that speaking; it was more like shouting and the words weren't exactly pleasant. "Do you mind if I walk down with you to Potions?"

"And why would you want to do that, Wood?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously. "It's not like we are friends, or anywhere close really. I also remember that the last time we spoke, you called me a 'witless tosser that should have been kicked off the team before you ever got put on'. And that is a direct quote." He responded by letting out a light chuckle and nodding, probably remembering the occasion I was talking about.

"You quickly responded with a, and I quote," He said before switching his voice, mocking a very high pitched female. "'Well, Wood, you are a manky chuffer that resembles a plug-ugly slag.'" He dropped the voice as I sneered at him unamused. "You also said some rather unpleasant things about my teammates and our skills on the pitch. I don't think you are a very enjoyable person but I am willing to push past that to try to make Potions a little easier for the both of us."

I snorted, narrowing my eyes slightly. He gave me a little smile, his brown eyes almost begging me to make this class less of a chore for him, and I made a snap decision. I would play nice for now, at least to his face, considering it would also make the class less of a chore for me and maybe I could get some Gryffindor plays out of him during the year.

"Fine." I said as we walked down the final set of stairs. "Just so that I don't have to hate this class but don't think that this little agreement spreads out of the classroom. You don't talk to me outside of class and the pitch is a completely different matter. Got it, Wood?"

"Like a Seeker gets a Snitch." He said, letting his face relax as we got to the room and walked in. We went over to our spot, sitting just as Snape walked into the room and started the lesson. It was slightly more comfortable than the other potions classes we'd sat though, neither of us acting as miserable as before, and the atmosphere remained that way until the end of class.

"Oh, I almost forgot." I exclaimed right before Wood got up, causing him to give me a questioning stare. Snape had just dismissed us and everyone was packing there things, preparing to leave. I pulled Anna's potion book from my bag and set it on the table in front of Wood. "This isn't mine. I had a little run-in with a Gryffindor, Anna Mirfield, and we seem to have switched potions books. I don't think she would like to see me, being Slytherin and all, so I was wondering if you could give it back to her and get mine to give to me on Thursday."

"I guess." He said, picking up the book and examining the outside. "I can see where you get the notion that she wont want to see you though; she has been bullied by the Slytherins since first year because she is a Muggle-born. I'll get you yours on Thursday too but won't you need a book for the essay on Draught of Peace due next class?"

"Yeah but I can just barrow Nott or Gamp's book." I said, waving it off and standing with all my stuff. He nodded and turned, walking towards the door. Right before he left I called out one more time to him. "And Wood, I wouldn't recommend opening it. Just get it to her as fast as you can and switch it out. Tell her I promise not to spill any of the secrets she wrote in there." He gave me a confused look before leaving and I smirked at the empty doorframe.


End file.
